How easy to replace washing machine bearings?

I would replace the washing machine.

On closer inspection I see that it has a sealed tub (the two halves of the plastic tub are welded together, which is cheaper than manifacturing a reliable seal).

So, basically it has been designed to be thrown away.

What crap. A perfectly good machine has to be disposed of for the sake of a part that costs £~40, and a decision to save a few pounds in manufacturing.

Daniele

Welcome to consumer white goods. I generally found that most modern washing machines would do about 5 years, and then need a service call of about half the cost of a new machine.

Or you could pay three times the price and get a ten year guarantee on a Miele or other 'better' machine.

I have decided that the latter course is, in fact, optimal for me.

As robotic assembly in the far East becomes the norm, the price of the goods has gone down inversely to the cost of getting them fixed.

Yebbut, the other parts are probably designed to last a similar time.

The back of the drum is usually available as a spare, but more expensive than just teh bearings.

I replaced teh bearings and seals in my Panasonic with little difficulty, then discovered they were supposed to be not replacable. That was 7 years ago, and it is still going strong. I fashioned a puller using hardwood and a hole saw to remove teh old bearings.

Our Miele is a lot older than 10 years!

But the guarantee is only ten years or even less I think

I find Miele is up to 4 times more expensive. Given the near impossibility of finding anyone to fix anything these days its a decent call.

Anyone remember this?

But would a replacement Miele last as long?

Some brands of 10+ years ago can still be found but often just as a badged item, made by a different company, designed by different engineers and made in a different country.

There seems to be recognition of a problem, with the washers.

"What's the lifespan of a coin washer?

According to the Coin Laundry Association, the accepted standard of useful life for commercial coin laundry equipment is as follows:

Top Load washers (12 lbs. to 14 lbs.): 5-8 years. Front Load washers (18 lbs. to 50 lbs.): 10-15 years. Dryers (30 lbs. to 60 lbs.): 10-15 years. "

And that would be for multiple loads per day.

This example isn't ideal, as the controls leave something to be desired. But it is 90 liters and 16 pounds wash -

Paul

First, make sure the bearing and seal kit, are available, if not it is likely you would simply have to swap the entire drum.

I had to replace mine, last year. It was especially difficult to get the drum out, due to restricted working space, in the utility room. Once the drum was out, it was a fairly easy job, removing the old bearings, and seals.

I had a Bosch washing machine that lasted nearly 14 years before it developed an intermittent fault which was a occasional leak, obvious by the sight of a small puddle of water creeping out from under the machine. I tried a couple of times to get the source of the leak traced, but the engineers always arrived on a day when it didn't leak. The first one replaced some hoses because they were "as old as the machine and could probably do with replacing", but the intermittent leak still happened. The second engineer gave the machine a good looking over but couldn't see where the leak might be coming from, because the more likely places were not the type of leak that would be intermittent.

In the end I decided that I should replace it, and bought another Bosch. The design had changed since the earlier one and this one had a drum unit which couldn't be repaired, only replaced as a whole unit. After 4 years the drum bearings got noisy and a replacement drum unit would be expensive so I put up with the noise which gradually got louder, until at a few weeks short of owning it for 5 years the bearing broke up and the spin stopped with an awful clatter. When I checked on the cost of replacing the drum unit, it was quite a long job with the engineer charging by the hour and then adding the cost of a replacement drum the total bill for repairing it was around £30 cheaper than just replacing the machine.

There is a local independent White Goods shop which has very competitive prices, and I had bought my cooker and dishwasher from there and had found them very impartial in their advice, so I went there to ask about a new washing machine. He went through the various makes that he could supply, and gave his opinion on the quality. He mentioned the Miele and he pointed out that it had a reputation for being very long lasting and easily repairable with spares which were readily available. Then came the "but". The company had been bought about a year before, and under new management the quality had gone downhill but the prices hadn't changed much. He recommended that unless I could find some "new old stock" dating from before the take-over, I would be taking a risk on the quality of the newer machines.

He still rated the Bosch as a good quality machine but did recognise the cost of Bosch spares would make some repairs expensive. In the end I bought a Siemens because that had a 5-year guarantee compared with the

I don't think it's anything like that really. The fact is that not fixing/recyling/building another is simply less human effort than fixing.

And there is a market for throwaway stuff. In my youth I'd buy chelsea boots for £70 that were dead in six months, Then I switched to ones costing £110 and they are still going today...

You pays yer money and you takes yer choice.

I am facing the likelihood of garage bills considerably in excess of the book value of my car.

Only the fact that I would have to spend more to buy a better one that would *still * have all the same problems, in all likelihood, keeps me sticking with this one.

Shame on you! This is a DIY group. ;-)

Tim

I have a Miele dishwasher, made in Czech republic. It's been solid. Far better than the Bosch POS it replaced.

I tend to usually stick to British made stuff - Numatic, Ebac, Belling, White knight.

It may be crap but it's BRITISH crap.

The new Henry cordless vacuum (Numatic) is actually pretty good. Obviously it doesn't last long - the bags fill up and the battery runs down, but for a feeble old git it does about an hour, which is all I can stand, pretty well.

Ultimately one makes a decision as to whether its 'just spend the money' time or where its 'OK let's fix this POS because I like it and I can'

My microwave is classed as 'commercial'

My problem is that even taking a POS microwave to the tip is getting to be too much like hard work

I do plumbing, electrics and car repairs. Isn't that enough?

Liebherr make Miele fridges and freezers (always have I think) but Miele make their own washing machines.

And it's not worth repairing.

Everything else works perfectly, and if anyone wants any of the various boards, pumps valves and motors, just ask.

I'll leave the metal body parts outside to be picked up by a scrap dealer and the rest is on Freecycle. I will put the concrete ring round the neck of one of my enemies to drown him.

Daniele